Biden, Palin, pro-life
I saw this editorial in The Tablet today and thought I'd post part of it because, in dealing with the subject of voting and pro-life (or not) stances of candidates, it mentioned something I didn't know ..... whether or not a politician does or does not receive Communion does not stop Catholics from voting for them, even on a strict interpretation of moral theology and canon law. Here's part of the editorial below ....
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Pro-life is not a single issue
It may not decide who is to become the next President of the United States, but abortion is once again a hot issue as the 2008 election campaign is launched at the conclusion of the two party conventions .....
No doubt one of the reasons why the Republican candidate, John McCain, has chosen Governor Sarah Palin of Alaska is because she is strongly anti-abortion and therefore thought to be a magnet for conservative Catholic and Evangelical voters. But this is an area where the Catholic position itself is more nuanced. Whether or not a particular Catholic politician does or does not receive Communion is an issue that can cause hurt and embarrassment. But it does not stop Catholics from voting for him or her, even on a strict interpretation of moral theology and canon law. As Cardinal Ratzinger, Pope Benedict gave a ruling in 2004 that generally supported the case for adamantly pro-abortion Catholic politicians being denied Communion, but he added: "When a Catholic does not share a candidate's stand in favour of abortion and/or euthanasia, but votes for that candidate for other reasons, it is considered remote material cooperation, which can be permitted in the presence of proportionate reasons." This deserves to be more widely known, and is equivalent to the repeatedly stated view of the English and Welsh bishops that "a general election is not a single-issue referendum". Senator Biden has certainly been pro-life in urging outside intervention to stop genocide in Bosnia and Darfur, issues on which conservatives tended to be more restrained. He supports such pro-life causes - although not usually seen as such - as universal health care and measures to improve the lot of the American poor, among whom infant mortality runs at rates more usually seen in the developing world ......
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Pro-life is not a single issue
It may not decide who is to become the next President of the United States, but abortion is once again a hot issue as the 2008 election campaign is launched at the conclusion of the two party conventions .....
No doubt one of the reasons why the Republican candidate, John McCain, has chosen Governor Sarah Palin of Alaska is because she is strongly anti-abortion and therefore thought to be a magnet for conservative Catholic and Evangelical voters. But this is an area where the Catholic position itself is more nuanced. Whether or not a particular Catholic politician does or does not receive Communion is an issue that can cause hurt and embarrassment. But it does not stop Catholics from voting for him or her, even on a strict interpretation of moral theology and canon law. As Cardinal Ratzinger, Pope Benedict gave a ruling in 2004 that generally supported the case for adamantly pro-abortion Catholic politicians being denied Communion, but he added: "When a Catholic does not share a candidate's stand in favour of abortion and/or euthanasia, but votes for that candidate for other reasons, it is considered remote material cooperation, which can be permitted in the presence of proportionate reasons." This deserves to be more widely known, and is equivalent to the repeatedly stated view of the English and Welsh bishops that "a general election is not a single-issue referendum". Senator Biden has certainly been pro-life in urging outside intervention to stop genocide in Bosnia and Darfur, issues on which conservatives tended to be more restrained. He supports such pro-life causes - although not usually seen as such - as universal health care and measures to improve the lot of the American poor, among whom infant mortality runs at rates more usually seen in the developing world ......
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posted by crystal | 3:41 PM
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